Best Places to Raise Kids: The 15 Most Family-Friendly Philly Suburbs

Upper Providence

Population: 21,219
School district: Rose Tree Media
Average SAT scores: 527 math / 543 reading / 526 writing
Crime rate: .27 violent crimes per 1,000; 2.17 nonviolent per 1,000
Median home price: $293,000

For modern parents who want it all—domesticity and woodsy open space, great schools and great restaurants—we say: You can’t have everything. But in unassuming Upper Providence, you can come really close. And you’ll be in good company—of the almost 3,000 families in the last census, nearly a third had children under age 18. That families are flocking here is no surprise: With 2,600 acres of woodland next door at Ridley Creek State Park and the Delaware County seat of Media nestled in its bosom, Upper Providence offers a heady mix of both nature and culture. “My only complaint is the deer,” jokes Patricia Giardinelli, a librarian at the Media-Upper Providence Library and mother of two. She goes on to praise the Rose Tree school district—a Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award nominee (“So diverse”)—and the quiet safety of the streets. Still, “There’s so much going on in the borough,” she says. “We moved here because of Media.” We moved here because of Media? Uh, yes. Where else do the perks range from free Reiki sessions to an annual Christmas lights display worthy of Bedford Falls? Here, it’s a wonderful life.

To read about Warwick, click here.